Loose-leaf binder



Nov. 17, 1,562,081

' J. c. DAWSON v LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Dec. 24. 1924 12 and 13, respectively. f For convenience in,

Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. DAW'SON, OF WEBSTER GROVES, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR.TO ELMA N. DAWSON, OF WEBSTER GROVES, MISSOURI.

LOOSE-LEAF BINDER.

Application filed. December 24, 1924. Serial No. 757,901. 7

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES 0. DAWSON, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of Webster Groves, county of St. Louis,'and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loose-Leaf Binders, of which the following is a specification and which are illustrated in the. accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof. v This invention relates to loose leaf binders, and more particularly to that type in-whic'h curved paper holding prongs held' open or closed by resilient means, are employed.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of new and improved means for simultaneously holding a plurality of paper holding prongs in either open or closed position. Another object or the invention is the provision of new and improved method of, and means for assembling the parts of the binder mechanism. 7

Other objects of the invention are the provision of new and improved loose leaf binder mechanism that is cheap to manufacture,

simple in construction, composed of a minimum number of parts, easily assembled and that is not likely to become broken or get out oi order. I

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of the binder mechanism in partly assembled position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the parts in assembled relation;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 8-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a portion of the binder with parts broken away;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan of a modified form of the device;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 66 of Fig. 5; r

Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of a modified form or the device showing the same in partially assembled relation; and

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the parts completely assembled. Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the'reference characters 10 and 11 designate two rods or bars each of which terminates at each end in curved paper holdingprongs' manufacturing, the rods lOand ll may be duplicates of each other and are thus shown,

wise.

is applied to the crowns '0 although it is understood they may be other:

The rod 10 is provided with short rigid arches l4 and 15 adjacent the paper holding prongs 12. The rod 11 is also formed into short rigid arches 16 and 17 at each end thereof which are adapted to cooperate with the corresponding arches 14 and 15, respectively, to form toggles for holding the paper holding prongs in open or closed position as will presently appear.

The bases of the arches are providedwith I inner and outer. bearings which form'inner and outer pivots for the toggles formed by the arched portions of the rods. 'Any suitable means may be employed tortorming the bearings. As shown, the base portions or.

ends of the arch 14 of therod 10 are provided with teeth or lugs 18 and 19 which are adapted to engage corresponding recesses 21 the base or end portions of the arch 17 of the rod 11 are provided with teeth23 and 24:,

which are adapted to engage corresponding portions outwardly so that when the teeth 19 and 23 and thecorrespondingrecesses 22 and 25 constituting the inner bearings are first brought into engagement, the teeth 18 and 2 1 and recesses 21 and26 constituting the outer bearings willnot be in engagement or will slightly engage whereby when pressure the arches to bring the outer bearings into engagement it will cause the central portions 27 and 28- of the rods 10 and 11 .to b'e sprung apart, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the resiliency of the rods will assist in holding the paper holding prongs in either open or closed position.

Suitable means are provided for holding the rods iii-assembled relation; cheapen the cost of manufacture,the means employed for holding the rods in assembled In order to and 22, respectively, in the base or end portions of the arch 16.: In a similarmanner' relation is also employed for holding the relation.

sarily, formed of resilient material. clip 29 comprises a channel body portion 31,

having its side portions provided with re turn bends, or flanges, 32 and 38. The body llU.

portion 31 is extended at each end to form the attaching tabs 34 provided with suitable apertures 35 for attaching the same to suit able covers. When the clip is first formed the flange 33 is bent to its final form but the flange 32 is only slightly curved, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the rods 10 and 11 may be temporarily held in assembled relation in said clip while they are being transported to the machine for performing the final assembling operation, as will presently appear.

In assembling the loose leaf binder mechanism, the rods 10 and 11 are first put together and the arc-hes16 and 17 are inserted beneath the flange 33 and by pressing inwardly on the prongs 12 and 13 the arches 14 and 15 may be passed beneath the flange 32. Pressing the prongs 12 and 13 toward each other will cause an outward bowing of the central. portions 36, and 37 of the rods 10 and 11, respectively. The flange 32 is so connected that it is sufficient to hold the rods in position with their central portions and 37 bowed slightly so as to place them under a light tension which is 'suficient to hold them in partially assembled relation in said clip. The parts are now in the position shown in Fig. 1, with the tabs 34 'eX- tending outwardly through the rings formed by the prongs. 12 and 13, as shown in Fig. 5, and the partially assembled device may be transported from one place to another without becoming disassembled.

The flange 32 is bent to its final form shown in Fig. 2 by any suitable mechanism, as by means of the die 39 which compresses the arches to cause the teeth 18 and 24 to engage the corresponding recesses 21 and 26 thereby placing the central portlons of the rods 10 and 11 under tension to assist the clip in holding the prongs in either open or closed position through the toggle action of the arches.

While it is understood that either the rods or the clip may be formed of substantially non-resilient material, the resiliency of either being sutlicient for the purpose, yet it is evident that a snappier action may be obtained by employing resilient material for both the rods and the clip. The flanges 32 and33 will stifien the sides of the clip thereby strengthening the spring action of the clip in holding the toggles in either open or closed position. I

The tabs 34 are o'llset downwardly over the prongs 12 and 13, as shown in Fig. 5, for preventing relative longitudinal movement of said rods. The outer ends of the tabs are in the plane of the flanges 32 and whereby the clip may be attached to the back of the cover by rivets, or otherfasten ing means which mayengage the apertures 35 in said tabs. 7 r

In the form of thedevice shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the clip 41 is in the form of a channel bar of sheet metal with straight flanges 42; and 43 which are provided at their ends with openings 44 and 45, through which the prongs 46 and 47 of the rods or bars 48 and 49 are adapted to extend for holding said rods in assembled relation within said clip. The rods 48 and 49 are identical in construction and are similar tothe rodslO and 11 except that the bases or ends of the short rigid arches 51 and 52 are provided with inner and outer recesses 53 and 54 for receiving the pins 55 which constitute pivots for thetoggles formed by said arches.

The rods 48 and 49 are so formed that the outer base portions or ends of the same containing the recesses '53 will be spaced apart when the rods are placed together with the inner base portions of the arches in contact, and that a slight pressure on the outer ends of the arches is necessary in order to place the rods in position within the clips or channels 41. The .slight friction due to the resiliency of the rods will hold the same in position within the clips for subsequent operations. After the rods are placed together in the clip with the inner base portions or ends of the arches containing the recesses 54 in contact with the outer base portions slightly apart the pins 55 may be easily inserted within the recesses 53, as shown in Fig. 5, after which the inner end of each of said pins is inserted by pressure or by slightly spreading the rods apart adjacent to the recesses 54 and pressing the pins to position within the recesses 54. The spreadlng of the nortions of the rods containing the bearings 54 causes the outer ends of the rods to clamp the pins 55 and will also cause the rods to bow outwardly at their central portion thereby affording resiliency for assisting in holding the prongs in either open or closed position through the action of the toggles formed by said arches.

The form of the device shown in Figs. 7 and 8 differs from that shown in Fig. 5 in that the toggle or hinge pins are omitted. In this form 01 the device the clip 56 is in the form of a channel with the flanges flared outwardly as indicated at 57 in Fig. 7. The toggle rods 58 and 59 are similar to the rods 10 and 11 in Fig. 1 and like them,

the outer base portions of the arches 61 and 62 thereof are out of alinementwith the inner base portions of said arches. In as sembling the rods, the tongues and grooves of the inner ends of the arches are engaged as at 63 in Fig. 7 and the outer ends of the arches are pressed toward each other, causing the intermediate portion 64 of therods to be placed under tension. The rods are now placed within the channel 56 with the paper holding prongs 67 extending through apertures 65 in the ends of the channel or clip; The friction of the parts will hold the rods temporarily in place, thus permitting the assembled parts to be transferred from one portion of the factory to another, if necessary or desirable, without becoming disassembled.

The device is then placed within a die and the flanges bent inwardly toward each other, thereby forcing the tongues and grooves at the outer ends of the arches into engagement as shown at 66, in Fig. 8.

In all these forms of the device the clip may also be resilient although it is understood. that the necessary resiliency for operating the toggles may be obtained from either the rods orv from the clip. Preferably, however, both the clip and the rods are formed from resilient material whereby a snappier action is obtained than from either alone.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a loose leaf binder, the combination of a pair of rods each formed into a short rigid arch at each end thereof and terminating in paper holding prongs, the arches of one rod extending outwardly from those of the other rod and forming toggles at the ends of the rods, and a single element for engaging all of said arches for resiliently holding said prongs in either open or closed position through the action of said toggles.

2. In a loose leaf binder, a clip comprising a resilient channel member, a pair of rods, each formed into a plurality of short rigid arches and terminating in paper holding prongs, the arches of one being adapted to be arranged opposite the arches of the other and to extend outwardly therefrom to form a plurality of toggles, and means for holding said rods in assembled relation in the channel of said clip whereby the resiliency of said clip will hold said prongs in either open or closed position through the action of said toggles.

3. A method of manufacturing and assembling loose leaf binder mechanism which consists in forming a channel clip with return bent flanges of unequal length, forming a pair of rods into arches and paper holding prongs adjacent each end of said rods, placing the arches of one rod opposite those of the other to form toggles, placing one side portion of each toggle beneath the long flange of the clip, compressing the outer ends of the toggle together and forcing said toggles into said clip beneath said of rods provided with opposed short ri id arches extending outwardly from each 0t er' to form toggles at each end .thereof, opposed paper holding prongs adjacent said arches and a resilient channel member having reinforcing flanges for retaining said toggles in adjusted position.

6; A loose leaf binder comprising a pair of rods provided with opposed short rigid arches extending outwardly from each other to form toggles at each end thereof, opposed paper holding prongs adjacent said arches, and a resilient channel member provided with openings through which said prongs extend, for holding said toggles in adjusted position.

7 A loose leaf binder comprising a pair of rods provided with opposed short rigid arches engaging each other at a plurality of points at each end of the rods to form toggles, opposed paper holding prongs adjacent said arches, and a resilient channel member for receiving the portions of the rods between said prongs and extensions on saidmember offset over said prongs for preventing relative longitudinal movement of said rods and for forming attaching tabs for said channel member. 1

8. A- method of making and assembling loose leaf binder mechanism which consists in forming a channel clip having flaring flanges, forming a pair of rods into arches and paper holding prongs adjacent each end of said rods, placing'the arches of one rod opposite those of the other to form toggles, placing the assembled rods Within said flanged clip with the toggles in frictional engagement with said flanges and bending the flanges toward each other against said arches.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature.

JAMES C. DAWSON. 

